This invention relates to wave enhancers for enhancing the amplitude of ocean waves so that an additional amount of energy corresponding to the increase in the amplitude of the waves from the wave enhancers can be extracted from the waves. This invention also relates to wave power collection systems and methods of employing wave power collection systems that have wave enhancers.
Wave power collection systems have been developed to extract energy from ocean waves based on the rise and fall of the ocean waves. Such systems generally harness the energy from the ocean waves and convert it into useful energy. For example, the energy captured from the ocean waves may be used to produce electricity. In order to capture the energy form the ocean waves, wave power collection systems typically employ a plurality of floats that float on the surface on the ocean and rise and fall with the waves. Attached to these floats are mechanisms that convert the vertical motion of the floats into useful energy.
A variety of mechanisms have been developed that convert the movement of floats into useful energy. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,786 entitled "Wave Power Collection Apparatus," which is hereby incorporated by reference and, which was also invented by the same inventor as this invention and owned by the assignee of this invention, a wave power collection system is described that generates electricity from the movement of the waves and uses this electricity to power an electrolysis means that breaks water into hydrogen and oxygen and stores the hydrogen and oxygen. In this system, the hydrogen and oxygen can then be used to produce useful work.
By way of further example, the floats of a wave power collection system may include an air compressor that is driven by the vertical movement of the floats in response to the waves. In this type of system, the air compressor produces compressed air. The energy in this compressed air can be extracted and converted into useful work. A wave power collection system of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,601 entitled "Compressed Air Producing, Tidal And Wave-Power Collection Apparatus For Installation in Large Bodies of Water," which is hereby incorporated by reference and, which was also invented by the inventor of the invention disclosed in this application.
As described above, the amount of energy that is extracted from an ocean wave depends on the energy the ocean wave has and in particular, the amplitude of the ocean wave. Thus, ideally such energy converting systems are employed in areas where the ocean waves have the greatest magnitude. However, these ideal areas are often located geographically in areas where it is not practical to employ an energy converting system. For example, it is preferable to employ the energy converting systems near the coast line, to reduce transmission losses and transportation costs. Often the waves produced along the coast lines are not great enough in magnitude to generate the requisite amount of energy. Therefore, there exists a need for a wave enhancer that will enhance the amplitude of the waves, so that energy converting systems may be located in areas that typically have relatively small waves.
Furthermore, it is preferably to increase the magnitude of the amplitude of waves that may be large enough already to drive an energy systems. By increasing the amplitude of these waves, more energy can be extracted from the waves and the system can produce more energy.
The system of this invention includes a wave enhancer and wave power collection systems that employ the wave enhancer of this invention.